Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Overall, DHd 2026 was a truly memorable experience for me. What stood out was not only the diversity of research topics and approaches, but also the opportunity to engage with such talented and dedicated researchers. Being able to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from other projects was both motivating and rewarding, and offered perspectives that I would not have encountered within my own academic environment. It also encouraged me to think more critically about how my own work fits into the broader field of digital humanities, and how it might contribute to ongoing discussions on combining computational methods with traditional manuscript studies.

I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for planning such a well-structured and inspiring conference. I am also very grateful for the travel grant, without which my participation would not have been possible.

Wie nimmt man als Nachwuchswissenschaftler, zumal noch als Student, an einer wissenschaftlichen Tagung teil? Allgemeingültig beantworten kann das wohl weder ich noch jemand anders. In diesem kurzen Beitrag will ich aber zumindest meinen Weg zur DHd2026 in Wien nachzeichnen. Ich hoffe damit aus Nachwuchsperspektive allen, für die eine Teilnahme an der Konferenz ebenfalls einen ersten Schritt in die Wissenschaftswelt bedeuten würde, eine Vorstellung zu geben, wie dieser Weg aussehen könnte.

Vom Vorhaben zum fertigen Abstract…

Die diesjährige Konferenz begann für mich am 22. Februar mit Ankunft in Wien. Der Weg dahin nahm seinen Anfang dagegen – wie sicher für viele Forscherinnen und Forscher aus den DH – bald ein Jahr zuvor. Denn: Nach der DHd ist vor der DHd.

Im letzten Jahr hatte ich das Glück, im heimischen Bielefeld als Teil des studentischen Organisationsteams indirekt schon an der letzten DHd-Konferenz teilnehmen zu können. Kein halbes Jahr zuvor hatte ich meine Bachelorarbeit in der Germanistik eingereicht. In dem Zusammenhang entstand bei mir bereits die Frage: Wäre meine Arbeit wohl auch was für die DHd…?

Bald darauf stellte ich meine BA im Kolloquium der Bielefelder Arbeitsgruppe CLS vor, mit anschließendem Gespräch über Publikationsmöglichkeiten. Veröffentlichen in einer Fachzeitschrift(?) – theoretisch möglich, aber vielleicht eine zu große Hürde, wo man nach der ersten Qualifikationsarbeit gerade zu laufen angefangen hat. Womöglich konzentriert man sich besser aufs Studium, immerhin stellt eine Veröffentlichung in jedem Fall einen Mehraufwand dar! Aber die Arbeit war gut, sagt man mir, und wenn man in die Wissenschaft will, gibt es hier Chancen, die sich auszuschöpfen lohnen.

Die alternative Idee: Veröffentlichen im Rahmen einer Konferenz – immerhin schwirrt die nächste DHd schon in den Köpfen rum und hier gäbe es niedrigschwelligere Einstiegsmöglichkeiten. Man könnte es versuchen, und bei Erfolg würde man diesmal als echter Teilnehmer mit eigenem Beitrag an der ersten Wissenschaftskonferenz teilnehmen. Etwa zur selben Zeit dürfte der Call for Papers eingegangen sein.

Ein Poster soll es werden. Mit Deadline für die Abstracts am 1. August ist im Juli Schreibarbeit angesagt. Eine 47-seitige Bachelorarbeit will auf 750 Wörter gestutzt werden und am Ende soll sogar noch so etwas wie eine Aussage rauskommen. Mit tatkräftiger Unterstützung von Prof. Dr. Berenike Herrmann und der ganzen AG ergeht eine x-malige Feedbackschleife – man unterschätze nicht, wie man – vor allem mit sich selbst – um jedes Wort kämpft, um das Abstract passend hinzubekommen. Am Ende bin ich zufrieden, der Beitrag ist im glücklicherweise gut funktionierenden Fidus Writer abgetippt und schließlich auf ConfTool hochgeladen. Dann heißt es auf das Open Peer-Review-Verfahren warten, um zu erfahren, ob man angenommen wurde oder nicht.

…über Reviewprozess und Posterdesign…

Und das dauert, naturgemäß. Über drei Monate, in denen das Leben natürlich weitergeht, aber man – weil es das erste Mal ist – trotzdem ungeduldig wartet. Schließlich wissen wir, ich und die weiteren drei(!) an AG-Projekten beteiligten Hilfskräfte mit Einreichungen, dass unsere Poster-Abstracts angenommen wurden! Die Freude ist groß.

Sofort geht es aber weiter, denn für das Metagutachten und die Veröffentlichung im Book of Abstracts wollen die Beiträge binnen eines Monats überarbeitet werden. Außerdem muss man sich nun ernsthaft Gedanken machen, wie man eigentlich nach Wien kommt.

In den nächsten Wochen wird sich für Konferenz und Workshops registriert, es werden Absprachen getroffen und Reisen und Unterkünfte gebucht. Man beachte: Für all das muss man üblicherweise in Vorleistung gehen, und es kommt ein bisschen was zusammen. Aber es gibt Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten. Neben der Forschungskommission der eigenen Universität, ggf. sogar der betreffenden AG, schreiben die Beteiligten am Stipendienprogramm des DHd-Verbands großzügig eine ganze Reihe Reisekostenstipendien aus, für die man übrigens nicht zwingend einen Konferenzbeitrag mitbringen muss. Wer den ganzen Organisations- und Verwaltungsaufwand zum ersten Mal macht, berechne aber auch hier etwas Zeit und Nerven ein, die immer dazugehören.

Im neuen Jahr schließlich, nachdem die Überarbeitung für das Metagutachten eingereicht und die meisten Fragen geklärt sind (die letzten werden es noch auf den letzten Drücker, keine Sorge), muss nur noch das eigentliche Poster designt werden. Also nochmal reduzieren und fürs Auge aufbereiten, bei ConfTool hochladen und ab in den Druck. Dann endlich ist alles in trockenen Tüchern und ein paar Tage später ist man, eh man sich versieht, auf dem Weg zur Konferenz.

…bis schließlich zum Ziel

Und was erwartet einen da? Nun, vorausgesetzt das gewählte Verkehrsmittel bringt einen erst einmal planmäßig an sein Ziel, eine ganze Menge. Mit Wien in meinem Fall zunächst eine prächtige Kulturstadt im Herzen Europas, die ich trotz des vollen Konferenzprogramms etwas Zeit hatte, zu erkunden. Neben großen, auch im Frühjahr schönen Gärten und viel ansehnlichem habsburgischen Prunk gehörte dazu nicht zuletzt das Hauptgebäude der ältesten Universität im heutigen deutschsprachigen Raum, wo die Konferenz ihre Räumlichkeiten fand.

In den Workshops gab es dort ungezwungenen Erfahrungsaustausch im Konferenz-Du und Raum zum Ausprobieren und Selbermachen. Das Kernprogramm, in dem ich durch meine Teilnahme die Möglichkeit hatte, eine ganze Reihe hochaktueller, interessanter Vorträge in breitgefächerten Konferenztracks zu hören, war gerahmt von zwei großen Keynotes im Audimax, die Anlass für anregende Gespräche boten. Dazwischen tischten die Veranstalter im kleinen und großen Festsaal zu Eröffnungsfeier und Kaffeepausen und nicht zuletzt zum großen Empfang im Ballsaal des Wiener Rathauses auf.

Der Mittelpunkt der Konferenz war für mich aber die große Poster-Vorstellung am Donnerstag. Nach vormittäglichem Poster-Slam, wo einige Mutigere die restlichen Teilnehmer kreativ und humorvoll schon auf ihre Poster heißgemacht hatten, warteten die zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Poster-Sessions mit insgesamt 98 Beiträgen.

Es war eindrucksvoll, das eigene Poster dort endlich im A0-Format neben all den anderen hängen zu sehen, zumal im üppigen großen Festsaal der Universität Wien. Während der Poster-Session hatte ich die Möglichkeit, mit gestandenen Wissenschaftlern und anderen Studenten und frisch Promovierenden gleichermaßen ins Gespräch zu kommen, Zusammenhänge meiner Arbeit zu erklären und Rückfragen zu beantworten. Und in der zweiten Session konnte ich dann auch selbst herumgehen und mich mit anderen wiederum über ihre Poster austauschen. Bei all dem habe ich die Erfahrung machen dürfen, mich wirklich als Teil einer wissenschaftlichen Community zu fühlen.

In diesem Sinne kann ich allen, die wie ich noch weit am Anfang ihres akademischen Werdegangs stehen, nur empfehlen, bei Möglichkeit auch diese Erfahrungen zu machen. Ob mit eigenem Beitrag oder ohne, der Weg zur DHd kann für Nachwuchswissenschaftler ganz unterschiedlich aussehen – aber es lohnt sich in jedem Fall, ihn zu beschreiten.

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Dieser Beitrag ist im Rahmen eines Early Career-Reisestipendiums für die 13. Jahrestagung des Verbands Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum e.V. entstanden. Mein herzlicher Dank gebührt dem DHd-Verband als Stipendiengeber für die finanzielle Ermöglichung meiner Teilnahme.

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure in attending the DHd 2026 in Vienna! The week long conference started with being greeted and checked in by extremely kind and helpful people and receiving a DHd tote bag containing a travel mug, a programmable LED name tag, a program book, a DHd pen, and a notebook.

Then the first workshop began. I had enrolled in Workshop 6: Library Labs als Innovation Hubs für DH – Worldcafé & Community Building. Here we heard from the Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung des DIPF, the Deutsche National Bibliothek, the Stabi Lab which is part of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, DIGIPOP, and the Vernetzungs- und Kompetenzstelle Open AccessBrandenburg. Each presented what offers they have, what events they host, how to access their datasets and open source resources, and how to get in touch. Then after a 15-minute coffee and pastry break, we broke out into groups and discussed the overarching theme of Library Labs, broken up into the subcategories of physical location, teaching formats, personnel/resources, target groups and communication, and cooperation and sustainability. The breakout groups was an amazing opportunity to learn and chat with other people attending the conference and hear about the work they are currently involved in.

The next day I participated in the workshop hosted by the DNBLab from the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek called “Von der Forschungsidee zumDatenkorpus”. Here we learned how to use the DNB SRU Query Tool to query and create metadata sets via the SRU interface. This workshop was again a very open and welcoming space, with all coding levels represented and everyone working together to use the tool and create visualizations from the datasets.

During the lunch break after, due to the sunny weather, many people decided to picnic outside at a nearby park before the next workshop. Tuesday evening was the Opening Keynote from Miriah Meyer, a professor in the Department of Science and Technology at Linköping University who is funded by the WASP program. Her research focuses on developing visualization tools that support exploratory and reflective data analysis and provide new ideas for using data in our lives. These tools enable people to learn more about their own data, redefine their perspectives, and revolutionize their thinking. In her keynote “Data As _: Exploring the Plurality of Data in Visualization”, she presented four different perspectives on data that reflect the range of approaches used by visualization researchers. By clearly distinguishing these perspectives, she opened new possibilities for how we create and use data and visualizations, and how we can simultaneously question our common notions of data-driven work. She also described the various projects she is and has been involved in, including one where young women are the target audience, with whom she explored Data Crafting and Data Physicalization Methods.

After the interesting Keynote, we all went to the Main Ceremonial Hall (Grosser Festsaal) for the Opening Reception where we were welcomed with food, drinks, and deserts and had time to socialize. Starting Wednesday and going until Thursday at noon, there were lectures where 2 to 3 people or groups presented their work, each total lecture lasting 1.5 hours and each having an overarching topic. The topics included digital soundscapes, digital art history, research data standards, Doctoral consortiums, named entities, digital editions, history of DH research, research software engineering, graph networks, virtuality, AI in interaction scenarios, epistemology and interpretation, research platforms as well as panel discussions. Between each lecture, there was either a coffee and pastry break, or a lunch break.

Thursday after the first coffee break, everyone headed to the Audimax where the Poster Slam took place. Each person or group presenting a poster had 60 seconds to introduce themselves, their topic and their research. The audiences applause level was recorded and whichever group received the loudest applause won. The slams were all so creative, with people working with props, being wrapped in toilet paper, performing poetry, sonnets, raps, and skits. After the Poster Slam followed lunch, and afterwards everyone gathered in the Main Ceremonial Hall for two Poster Sessions where we were able to ask questions and hear more about each poster from each of the participants.

In the evening, we were invited to the Reception in the City Hall. We entered the City Hall and were greeted with breathtaking architecture. The mayor’s representative welcomed us, speeches were held, the awards of the Poster Slam and the Poster Sessions were announced, selfies were taken and the buffet was opened. The night continued with food, drinks, desserts, and dancing and then once the City Hall closed, everyone went to a bar where bingo was played at midnight.

On Friday there were two more lecture sessions with topics including historical perspectives, digital editions II, text recognition, automation and AI, operationalization, multimodality, data modeling, digital art history II, and two more panel discussions.

This was followed by lunch and then the closing Keynote which was held by Katharina Kinder-Kurlanda, a Professor of Humanwissenschaft des Digitalen at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. She works across disciplines in digital humanities, science and technology studies, sociology of technology, and internet research. Her research interests include new epistemologies for big data, algorithms in everyday life, data practices, social casual games, and (fair) artificial intelligence. The keynote invited us to understand digital humanities as a critical discipline that not only applies digital methods but also reflects on their social implications. She asked the question of how can we, as researchers in digital humanities, make the politics of data visible?

Following the Keynote, closing remarks were made, the Organizational Team from Vienna was brought on stage and given roses and thanked for their amazing effort, and there was a presentation about the DHd Conference 2027 which will take place in Marburg Germany.

Overall, the DHd 2026 was an amazing experience! It was an extremely open and supportive environment, allowing everyone to meet and learn from their peers and the pioneers of the field. I am very grateful to the DHD for the scholarship and this opportunity. Thank you for the inspiring week full of wonderful presentations, workshops, posters, delicious food and drinks and lovely interactions. I’m already looking forward to next year!

As one ADHO’s constituent organizations and sponsor of DH2023 the Association for Digital Humanities in the German Speaking Areas (DHd) congratulates all recipients of ADHO-Travel bursaries  for DH2023 at Graz (Austria). To promote these bursaries and to encourage applications in coming years DHd has asked recipients from the German speaking areas to write individually short blog posts about their experiences. This post is part of the series. 

The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations Annual Conference (ADHO) in Graz was an enlightening experience for me. I had the privilege of presenting our collaborative project, „Magnetic Margins: A Census and Reader Annotations Database,“ alongside my colleagues, Alessandro Adamou (Digital Humanities Lab at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome) and Hassan el Hajj (Research IT at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin). Our panel was thoughtfully curated and expertly moderated, making our participation all the more rewarding.

While Alessandro was present in Graz, Hassan and I participated online as I was located in the US at the time and traveling all the way to Graz seemed somewhat over the top. I nevertheless applied for one of the ADHO’s travel grants, but  in order to be reimbursed only for the conference fees – EUR 165 instead of up to EUR 850, being the regular lump sum for travel costs. At the time of the conference, I myself had a fellowship with the Linda Hall Library at Kansas City that could not cover participation fees. To my great delight, it was no problem for ADHO to be flexible and pragmatic in this respect. 

The virtual format of the conference proved to be highly effective. Despite being in a North American time zone, I could seamlessly join the sessions via webinars. The ease of accessing live streams and recorded sessions meant I never missed any critical discussions or intriguing talks. Our presentation on “Magnetic Margins” was a culmination of collaborative efforts and research. Alessandro, Hassan, and I had worked diligently to develop a comprehensive census and reader annotations database, making use of cutting-edge digital humanities methodologies. Alessandro’s presence in Graz allowed for a smooth and seamless delivery of the presentation. Hassan and I were able to contribute effectively through the virtual medium, which was testament to the ADHO’s seamless integration of online participants.

Although I missed the opportunity for in-person networking, the virtual setting offered a range of networking tools. ADHO’s digital platforms facilitated communication among participants, allowing us to engage in meaningful conversations and connect with fellow researchers. The ADHO Annual Conference 2023 in Graz was a resounding success, leaving a lasting impression on me. I look forward to future opportunities to participate in ADHO conferences and continue contributing to the thriving community of digital humanities scholars.